This is a beauty blog written by a professional makeup artist and hair stylist in Louisville, Ky.

beauty tips

When it comes to purchasing mascara you might scratch your head as to which product to buy. There are so many mascaras to choose from! Aside from trial and error, how can we choose a product that is right for our lashes? The answer lies in the type of formula and the wand.

Below are some tips for choosing the right mascara for your fine, sparse, full, or long eyelashes.

They add volume to sparse lashes. The fibers attach to each other and fill in spaces to create the appearance of volume.

Cons

The lash fibers flake off VERY easily and invade the eye (and can cause an eye infection).

Those who wear contacts should avoid fiber mascara altogether.

Flakes can leave streaks on your face.

The fibers don’t look natural and can appear very clumpy.

Regular – Regular mascara is made up of wax, pigment and film formers. Regular mascara is water soluble.

Pros

Very natural looking.

Regular mascara easily builds up on the lash with each swipe.

Water soluble and easy to cleanse off the lash.

Does not flake (usually). If it does flake, it is not detrimental to the eye (because it is water soluble).

Cons

Rubs off easily (if you tend to rub your eyes).

Regular mascara will break down with tears, swimming, rain, sweat, and other water situations.

Does not keep lashes curled as well.

As you can see, when it comes to mascara formula, you have to take the good with the bad! Now onto the next consideration for picking the right mascara for your lashes: the wand. Below are the types of wands to choose from.

Wands:

“The right tool for the job” should be your motto when selecting a mascara wand. The brush you choose has a HUGE impact on how the mascara formula swipes on your lashes.

Twisted wire brush with close-set bristles: These brushes pick up a LOT of mascara and make it easy to swipe on color in a few strokes. The longer bristles make it easy to apply mascara to the base of the lashes, adding a bold effect. Mascara wands with a twisted wire brush are used to add volume and lengthen the appearance of the lashes.

Rubber brushes: This brush is good for people who don’t want to deal with mascara clumps. The brush picks up a smaller amount of product, affording the user more control over the application onto the lashes. These mascara brushes lengthen lashes without adding fullness.

Fat wands: These brushes tend to be larger in diameter (especially in the center). The thicker wands can be made out of wire brush or rubber brush and are best for building a lot of volume on the lashes.

Curled or hourglass wand: A curled bristle brush and an hourglass rubber brush are perfect for adding a winged effect on your lashes. The curves lift and push your lashes for a dramatic winged effect!

Short, close-set bristles that are very uniform (rubber brush, small tip, or comb tip): This type of wand separates the lashes and coats the hairs very evenly. This wand is great for people who have lashes that are long and thick in density (Lucky duckies!).

Final notes:

Most mascaras state on their packages the properties of their formula as well as the type of application a wand will result in. Pay attention to the keywords the package lists. A good rule of thumb is to pick a mascara wand based on its shape and the final look you desire. For example: A fat brush will give you fat lashes, a curled brush will help push up your lashes, a small brush with short tips that are uniformly spaced will uniformly coat and separate your lashes. In other words, what you see is what you get!

For the expert mascara junkie I suggest combining your mascaras! You do this by first applying your mascara with a brush that adds volume and then follow it with another coat of mascara with a wand that lifts and separates. This technique is pure MAGIC!

Another hot tip is to save one of your older mascara tubes that are a little dried out (not too old!). The minimal product makes it easier to apply the right amount of mascara on the lower lashes. You will have less mistakes of clumps or smudges with an older tube of mascara.

Remember to dispose your mascara and brush after three months! Once a tube is older than three months you risk getting an eye infection.

Brows define the face. In fact, a good brow can make a face look great without makeup. I am totally guilty of over plucking my eyebrows. I have been doing it wrong since high school. It all started my freshman year: I got my brows waxed for the first time and I looked AMAZING! Unfortunately I thought I could keep up with the look by myself and started to tweeze the stray hairs as they grew in. BIG MISTAKE! It took me 25 years to realize that eyebrows are “sisters”, not “twins”.

What do you do about it? We all know that to stop tweezing those itty bitty stray hairs are easier said than done. I don’t know anyone that can stand the feeling of that one hair out of place. Personal restraint from pulling that little hair screaming at you is like dieting during the holidays. It’s torture.

Here’s my tried-and-true method for dealing with the awful phase of re-populating those precious little hairs:

STOP TWEEZING! At all cost. Don’t do it. This is your intervention.

Use a safety razor meant for small areas on the face (see picture). This is the holy grail of growing out your eyebrows! Use the razor to closely cut the little stubbly hairs that are desperately trying to gain real estate on your brows. Be gentle, go slow. Wet the area you intend to shave with water and a little facial lotion. You don’t want to give yourself razor burn. Be careful not toaccidentally shave the hairs that are already long and happily living in the right place. With this technique you will have smooth skin with no visible stubble for nearly 24 hours. YOU CAN DO THIS EVERY DAY until you have populated enough hairs in your little eyebrow farm.

When you are ready to see the fruits of your labor, let those little sprouts GROW! Within two weeks you will have hair
long enough to fill in with a eyebrow pencil and powder. I promise, you will feel human again. With an angled brush, use a brow powder to create the shape and an eyebrow pencil to build wax on the hairs that create volume.

Brush the hairs and use an eyebrow gel to hold the brows in place. I love Anastasia brow gel. It’s very sticky yet doesn’t coagulate like glue. At $22.00 it’s worth every penny, I promise.

The most important thing is to remain patient as your hairs grow out. They will grow out weird, but will eventually straighten themselves out. If you must remove the hairs that seem to grow on your eyelids, go ahead, pluck away. For the fine and fuzzy hairs that come in LEAVE THEM BE! If you must shape your brows use your safety razor. At least your eyebrows will still be there and you won’t be consistently damaging each of your hair follicles. And while they are goofy, you can at least count on brow gels and makeup to support your endeavor until they grow out in the correct direction. Expect your hairs to be back to their fullness and normal shape within a year. Then find yourself a proper eyebrow artist to maintain a crisp shape because you probably cannot be trusted to be your own “hair maintenance manager” from now on! Good luck!